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A Case In Point - Eric Clapton - Recovering Alcoholic & Addict

One way to look at the effects of alcohol and drugs on the personality is to imagine it as a prism or lens that the alcoholic or addict begins to see the world through.  And for the people around the alcoholic - friends, family, employers etc., the effect of this prism or lens is that everything the alcoholic says, does, or feels tends to become exaggerated.  A very vivid example of this is someone like Eric Clapton.

At the age of eight, he learned that the couple he thought were his parents were actually his grandparents, and that the person he thought was his sister, was actually his mother - obviously confusing at any age, but mind-boggling at the age of eight.

So what type of "lens" does a person like this begin to see the world through?  They begin to see a world where people can't be trusted, and for reasons they don't know or don't understand, obviously they themselves are unworthy and to a degree, unwanted.  In Eric's life, this seem to have played out in the following ways:

• Eric Clapton escaped into the guitar, because as he says, "I went to music because I found that a safe place to go to."

• Because he had been lied to and deceived at such a young age, he developed a mistrust of people and an inner anger.  So as he grew up, he couldn't maintain long-lasting and meaningful relationships because there's always that feeling that it's not real, and everything could turn upside down at any moment.

• He felt unwanted and/or unworthy, which for most of us who have experienced addiction, turns into a feeling of alcoholics and addicts to "not feel comfortable in their own skin."  In his words, "I found that when I drank or took drugs or whatever, or changed myself from the inside out, I felt more acceptable to other people."

So while it may be easy to simply write off the alcoholic or addict as someone who has simply made poor choices, lacks strength of character, and doesn't think things through rationally, when you look under the surface, there's always something there that wasn't right.  Always.

Latest Research

Researchers at the Molecular Neurobiology Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, have recently completed the most comprehensive scan of the human genome to date linked to the ongoing efforts to identify people most at risk for developing alcoholism. This study is the first time the new genomic technology has been used to comprehensively identify genes linked to substance abuse. The study was published in the December 2006 issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B (Neuropsychiatric Genetics).

This study is just one example of what you could almost call a "movement" among researchers to find and identify the genetic components of addiction.  If successful, this will not only improve science's ability in the prevention and treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction, it will also hopefully remove some the negative stigmas associated with addiction, of which there are many.

Types Of Alcoholics

As we said at the beginning of this tutorial, there's really no "typical" alcoholic and a study in June of 2007 seems to have identified five "sub-groups," or "sub-types" under the general banner of "alcoholic." These findings came from a study of 1,484 people who all met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence.  Here are the five types, including some factors that distinguish them.

Young Adult Alcoholics  (31.5% of all alcoholics)

This sub-group makes up 31.5% of all alcoholics, they tend to have relatively low rates of co-occurring substance abuse (polydrug use) or co-occurring mental disorders. They also have low rates of family alcoholism and they rarely seek counseling or help for their drinking.

Young Antisocial Alcoholics (21% of all alcoholics)

It's thought that this sub-group makes up 21% of all alcoholics.  Most are in their mid-twenties, experienced early onset of regular or heavy drinking, and early onset of alcohol-related problems. More than 50% come from families with a history of alcoholism, and about 50% have a psychiatric diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Many within this group have major depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety issues. More than 75% of this group smoke cigarettes and marijuana, and many also have cocaine and opiate addictions. Over 33% of this group does seek help for their drinking.

Functional Alcoholics (19.5% of all alcoholics)

Functional alcoholics are typically middle-aged, well-educated people, with stable jobs and families. They make up about 19.5% of all alcoholics, and about 33% have a "multigenerational" family history of alcoholism. 25% had major depressive illness at some time in their lives and 50% are smokers. It's thought that this group probably tends to seek help less than all others, because they are by most societal measurements, functional. Sir Winston Churchill was described as a "functional alcoholic."

Intermediate Familial Alcoholics (19% of all alcoholics)

19% of alcoholics fit this category and they are typically middle-aged and 50% come from families with multigenerational alcoholism. Nearly 50% have had clinical depression, and 20 percent have had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The majority of this group smoke cigarettes, and nearly one in five report cocaine and/or marijuana use. About one-quarter of this type will seek help or treatment for their problem.

Chronic Severe Alcoholics  (9% of all alcoholics)

Ironically, chronic and severe alcoholics - the group we most stereotype as the "typical" alcoholic is in fact, the least typical, making up a mere 9% of all alcoholics. These are mostly middle-aged individuals who had an early onset of drinking and alcohol problems, they have high rates of antisocial personality disorder, higher rates of criminality. Almost 80% come from families with multigenerational alcoholism.

They also have the highest rates of other psychiatric disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders. This group also has inordinately high rates of smoking, and marijuana, cocaine, and opiate dependence. In addition, since 66% of this group will seek help for their drinking problems, they are the most prevalent type of alcoholic in a treatment setting.

Previous studies which tried to identify alcoholism subtypes were conducted with people who were in treatment for their alcoholism. Therefore, a large percentage of alcoholics were left out of those studies, because only about one-fourth of alcoholics ever seek treatment.  That's why chronic alcoholics became the stereotype of what an alcoholic looks and acts like.

Obviously, both the data and the percentages above are estimates and extrapolations, not cast in cement.  But what it reveals is that the largest percentages of alcoholics are partially or completely invisible to society.  That doesn't mean they don't have one hell of a negative effect on society, it just means they're far less obvious.

And it also tells us that those that are in the most dire need of help are in most cases, the least likely to be able to afford it if it's not government sponsored.  And that, is a dilemma.    

Late Diagnosis - Late To Get Help

And most will also agree that all alcoholics are typically diagnosed and seek help for their problem much later in their drinking "careers" than they should, and often later than people who are addicted to other substances and behaviors.  There are at least four reasons for this:

First, drinking is an accepted behavior in most societies, so we're obviously not as alarmed seeing someone drinking as we are if we saw someone jam a needle full of heroin or meth into their arm.  Secondly, on at least a visual and appearance basis, there's a fuzzy line between someone who REALLY likes to drink, someone who doesn't handle liquor very well and an actual alcoholic.

Thirdly, like with all addictions, there's a stigma associated with alcoholism that isn't pretty.  A lot of people still view alcoholism as simply weak will, bad personal choices, or moral failure.  Well obviously, not many of us are too thrilled with the idea of walking into a clinic and saying, "Hi, I'm weak-willed, I make poor choices, and I'm a moral failure.  Is there someone I can see about that?"

And the last reason is that with rare exception, most physicians have little if any training in addictions.  How little?  Some call it the "4 - 2 - 1 syndrome."  What that means is that over 4 years of medical school, the average doctor will receive 2 hours of training concerning the number 1 treatable health problem in society, which is addiction. 

Focus On The Alcoholic In Training

We're now beginning to see research becoming more focused on adolescent abusive drinking, or "alcoholics in training," as opposed to the person who has been an alcoholic for perhaps ten or twenty years before they sought help.  And contrary to popular belief, just because you see a kid who spends their entire Spring Break leaning on a palm tree hammered from too many tequila shooters isn't necessarily an alcoholic, or even going to become one.  As we said, most alcoholics are invisible.   

A Depressant For Depression?

Many people are under the misconception that alcoholics drink because they're depressed, but if you go back a bit further, it really starts with anxiety. If someone is not a good problem solver and they're having difficulty coping with their perception of life, there's a good chance that there will be some anxiety attached to that.  And alcohol is often reached for as a solution because it's legal, it's available, and as a depressant, it counteracts anxiety.  And as any alcoholic in recovery will tell you, in the beginning, alcohol was a perfect "prescription" for reducing anxiety and making problems go away.  However the key phrase there is "in the beginning."

So essentially what we're saying is that initially, alcohol is used as a solution to problems and early on, it works.  The catch is, what begins as a solution to your problem, becomes the problem.  That's the real "hook" of any addiction.  It's like you're getting beaten up in the playground by everyone and all of a sudden, this big "protector" comes up and promises to take care of you.  And initially, they do take care of you and you grow to love them for it.  Ultimately though, your protector starts charging you in other ways for their service, and in the end, they own you and you are their slave.     

The Person Is Not The Addiction

So what we're going to present for you here are some of the "hallmark," or "signature" personality traits of the alcoholic.  And note that while we're describing the classic alcoholic here, many of these characteristics can apply to almost anyone who is falling, or has fallen victim to an addiction, or "maladaptive behavior."  You will probably also feel that the emotional and personality qualities that are outlined here tend to paint a fairly ugly picture of a person.  However the picture that's being painted here is more a picture of the addiction than it is of the person, and the two should always be viewed as separate.  No one grows up hoping to become an alcoholic and we know of few if any active alcoholics who are entirely happy being one.

Despite what they say and how they act, alcoholics don't like being alcoholics, nor do addicts like being addicts.  In reality, they are people who are trying to cope with something inside that they either don't understand, or can't bring themselves to face.  More often than not, there's an inner shame that they know is there, yet they can't describe it or articulate it, even to themselves.

And as exasperating, unpredictable, and even frightening as they may be at times, no one is filled with more fear, frustration and anxiety than them.  And what you're about to read on the next page is how that inner fear, that inner shame, or as many describe it - that "hole in the soul," translates to behavior and personality.  We hope you find this tutorial helpful and your comments are always welcome.

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